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Doggie Door

We moved to the suburbs in Jan and now are blessed with a fenced backyard so Bentley can be let out to potty alone. He is almost 2.5 years old and I'm wondering if a doggy door to the backyard would be too hard for him to adjust to at this age. We'd hate to install the thing, only to have it sit there unused. It would be convenient for us, so that our ears wouldn't have to be in tune to the sounds of scratching to let him out.
Thoughts?

I would do it! It may take him a while to figure it out but I think once he does it will be worth it. I have a step stool for my bed because the girls had trouble getting up and down. Lady figured it out right away, I tried for MONTHS with Gracie luring her up and down with treats, etc. but she never caught on. Until about 5 months later, long after I had given up trying to teach her, when all of sudden she started using the stool!

Courtney
Lady (1.5 year old tricolour) & Gracie (4 year old blenheim)"Happiness is a warm puppy" - Charles M. Schulz

I know that Bosco won't even push open the door to his crate, never mind a doggiee door! Honestly, he can't even paw a door to open it, and will sit and cry for us to open the door. We love him, but he is not the brightest when it comes to door opening. So, a doggie door would never work for us.

Can you picture Bentley going through the door on his own? Since he does scratch to be let out, I would think that once he realized that he could get out, he would use it. I'm sure its easy enough to train him to do so, and would make your life easier. i would trust your gut instinct -- if you think he could do it, he will. You know Bentley better than anyone.

We have a doggie door and mine use it just fine. Fletcher followed our older dog out the door the same day I brought him home. Ours is installed in our "other back door" it leads into a utility room then there is another door into our kitchen, I close that door at night or when its really hot or cold out so my dogs do still scratch at that door too. We did not install the doggie door it was here when we purchased the house and we left it cause he had 2 dogs. Neither dog has ever had one before and both older picked it up quickly.

Personally I would not install one unless you are having problems...I mean you don't hear Bentley and he's potting on the floor by the door. Even if you buy a good locking one they leak so much air...personally I can not afford to heat the whole neighborhood

Melissa
"If you don't own a dog, at least one, there is not necessarily anything wrong with you, but there may be something wrong with your life."
-Roger Caras

This is probably a personal quirk, but I like to know when my dogs are in or out. We also have a fenced in yard so I can let then out by themselves, but I want to have control of when they go out. Maybe it has something to do with having a multiple dog household and keeping track of four dogs, but I just like knowing where they are. We have a large wooded yard (over 1.5 acres). Maddie is almost totally deaf, so if she had access to a doggie door and went out on her own, I might have difficulty finding her since she wouldn't come when I called her. At least this way, if I can't find her, I know she's inside sleeping and can't hear me, so I have fewer places to look. We also have a lot of wildlife in our area so I want to be able to control their access to the yard if there are skunks, foxes, raccoons, possums, or the occasional coyote around.

Thanks for bringing up the leakage of air, in & out. I had wondered about that but forgot to ask. Our daughter's family had one at another house but it was out of the garage so no problem with heat & air. This would be an issue here because it would be installed on the N side of the house so lots of cold wind could come from that direction.

I got one for phoebe last year. It took a few weeks but she got it. I got it for her as she used want to go out in the middle of the night. Its a gift. Pippa , I'm afraid , never got it. It's a risk but worth taking.

I personally would never have one. Not only can skunks and the like pass through it, so can small burglars.

Eeek! I've seen ones though that have a metal piece that slides in so you could secure it at night, and just have it open during nicer weather when you want them going in and out on their own.

Personally, I would love one for Lady for when I am home with her. She's constantly scratching at the door to go outside just to run around or to sit and enjoy the outdoors - hardly ever to do her business! But I definitely would want a way to secure it at night, when I am not home, and during very cold weather.

Courtney
Lady (1.5 year old tricolour) & Gracie (4 year old blenheim)"Happiness is a warm puppy" - Charles M. Schulz